'I don't like any of the candidates' is no way to run a country. This two-party system isn't working.

Tuesday 26 February, 2019

The discussion about moving American politics beyond the two-party system needs to become much more serious.

This thought is spurred by two factors, at least here in Arizona: The decision by Grant Woods not to run for U.S. Senate. And the unappetizing choice the two parties are likely to offer for president in 2020.

Woods is an appealing political persona, as evidenced by having been elected attorney general while in his 30s. Woods is a gifted orator, as the country learned from his eulogy for John McCain. And his comic skills are worthy of a professional.

His policy positions are best described as eclectic. He doesn't have an ideological lens through which he views issues. He sort of picks and chooses as he goes along.

There are moments, and this may be one of them, when that fits the mood of the electorate. Woods would have a realistic chance of winning a general election for U.S. Senate.

But he does not have a realistic chance of winning either a Republican or Democratic primary for such.